Be free -- skate nude

Published 4:00 am, Friday, October 26, 2001

2001-10-26 04:00:00 PDT San Francisco -- Finally, in these troubled times, along comes something each and every patriotic American can do to help fight terrorism.

Skate naked.

Buzzing around in the altogether on in-line or roller skates may not help poverty-stricken Afghans survive the coming winter, but it goes a long way toward helping us all reclaim something that was lost on Sept. 11.

I'm speaking, of course, of the decadent Western ways that so irritate suicidally insane terrorist human defectives.

Wait: No I'm not. I'm speaking of some measure of innocence.

"It's just total freedom," says Sandy Snakenberg, a professional championship in-line skater who has organized occasional San Francisco "nude skates" for the past five years. "It's a unique experience to feel the wind on your entire body."

Skaters of all ages, genders, sensibilities and body types are invited to Snakenberg's events, the next one of which will be on Sunday.

"There are no snobs in a group of naked people," Snakenberg, 40, says. "It brings about a childlike glee when you do it. Everyone's just out there going, 'Woo hoo!' "

Even in blase San Francisco, spinning around town clothes-free is illegal under an indecent exposure statute, according to police spokesman Dewayne Tully, who couldn't resist suggesting that the event "adds a whole dimension to the phrase 'ball bearings.' "

Because of that, and because Snakenberg and Co. eschew what he calls "gawkers and looky-loos," you have to e-mail Snakenberg for the event's time and location (sk8around@earthlink.net). Don't show up unless you're ready and willing to skate in the buff.

The events originated from response to a 1995 photograph by professional sports photographer Jack Gescheidt, which graced greeting cards and posters. Taken, alas, from behind, it shows Snakenberg skating naked on California Street.

Folks who saw it told Snakenberg they wanted to join him, and so were born the early-morning events. Each attracts a couple dozen people, is photographed (from behind) by Gescheidt and is followed by (a fully clothed) breakfast. Snakenberg won't divulge locales of past events, but hints that one took place on a very famous bridge that may or may not connect Marin County and San Francisco.

The California Street caper wasn't Snakenberg's first shot at skating nude. Two decades ago, he was in the Navy stationed in San Diego. (Born in Portland, Ore., he enlisted at 17 after living in a series of foster homes.) He and 10 other skaters, who cohabited in a San Diego boarding house and dubbed themselves the Rad City Rollers, occasionally made naked night spins around the block.

"It was a carefree time," Snakenberg says. "Most of us were unemployed or AWOL from the military. We were just wild and crazy kids."

Snakenberg spent about a decade in San Diego, a law-and-order town where cops were tough on skaters. He says he received what seemed like a ticket per week while skating to work or training for races.

Frustrated, he accepted a 1992 invitation to live in Berkeley with his buddy Eddie Matzger, then the top in-line racer in the country. Snakenberg started hanging out in the San Francisco skating scene. "It was great," he says. "There was the Friday night skate every week, and you didn't get looked at twice."

After another short stint in San Diego, in 1994, Snakenberg moved to his current home in the Sunset District. He spent the next few years bouncing between the city and, alternately, Taiwan and Singapore, where he'd been invited to instigate Friday night skates and to coach kids and adults.

He also amassed a commendable record of skating victories. He was the U. S. Ultra-Marathon Champion in 1992 and the 1992 and 1994 winner of the California Outdoor Freestyle competition. Of the 191 races he attended between 1991 and 1998, he placed first in 25 and in the top 10 in 90, he says.

As if that wasn't enough, on Halloween eve and day in 1999 -- his 20th skating anniversary -- Snakenberg skated for 24 hours at the Golden Gate Park Polo Fields track for a shot at the Guinness Book of World Records. (The feat didn't get listed owing to a bureaucratic problem in the then-changing Guinness organization.)

Snakenberg works as a physical trainer at Valencia Street Muscle and Fitness, at 333 Valencia St., and coaches other skaters. When not on skates, he rides one of his four bikes, and proudly notes he's never had a car -- or a driver's license.

He says he's considering accepting invitations from folks in Chicago, Washington and New York City to organize nude skates there. Until then, San Francisco remains home to the event, something Snakenberg says is as, er, arousing for passers-by as for participants.

"It puts a smile on people's faces," he says. "How can you not smile when you see a bunch of naked people skating by?"